


Worry

by raregoose



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 06:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3280673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raregoose/pseuds/raregoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuvira worries about Baatar. He is injured, and they share a private moment. Takes place between Book 3 and 4 of LoK.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worry

Explosions were common, but ones that wracked the whole train and knocked over her desk were not. She felt the car shake, and was thrown against the wall as she heard the loud crash of her metal desk on the floor. She swore under her breath as she watched her papers, stacks of contracts and maps and plans, flutter to the ground. Straightening herself, she quickly metalbent the desk to its standing position and smoothed her tunic flat against her thighs. She knew immediately where the explosion was coming from. Worry tugged her mouth into a small frown, and she set off out of her car, speed walking down the corridor to get to the lab.

The lab car was charred over when she arrived, a thin coating of grime covering everything. Varrick stood, covered in this ash, shielding Zhu Li. Baatar kneeled on the floor facing perpendicular to her, also caked in whatever had exploded, already tinkering with the machine even though there was broken glass embedded in his arm, bleeding profusely, and she could see another trickle of blood down his temple, suggesting more injuries.

"Baatar!" She exclaimed, trying to use her normal commanding tone of voice, but a waver slipping in. "What happened here?" He stood in reply and growled. She could see now that shrapnel had slit his skin above his brow, and he also had a bruise blossoming under his skin along his jawline. The gash in his arm was the worst, and after ripping out the glass, Baatar gripped his arm to apply pressure.

"The flamethrower we're developing backfired," he said, and in anger kicked at a piece of what was evidently once his prototype. "The entire thing exploded, we have nothing left." He was breathing hard both from the pain and frustration. Kuvira felt it rubbing off on her a bit, also feeling annoyed at how slow their new mechs were coming along. She looked between her boyfriend and Varrick and Zhu Li, who was brushing dust off of Varrick's face.

"Baatar, this can be fixed later. At the moment, we need to bandage you up. Varrick, Zhu Li, you are both uninjured?"

"Yup!" Varrick said, fluffing out his hair and shaking ash from it, "I saw that thing about to blow and I was outta there! Glasses over here kept trying to fix it even when pieces were going everywhere, he's crazy." 

Kuvira looked back at Baatar, who was now looking faint. 

"Varrick, Zhu Li, do something productive, but don't exert yourselves. You will be back working to fix this tomorrow. Guards, clean this car of all shrapnel from the explosion. Baatar, with me." 

Everyone but Baatar, still gripping his arm, saluted, and she left the car with him following her. She took him to their bedroom, and pulling out a first aid kit, started work on bandaging him.   
He planted his unharmed arm firmly on her waist as she wrapped gauze tight around the wound. It wasn't as deep as she had first thought, which was a relief, but the knowledge poking the back of her mind that Baatar would not stop working on the prototype even after it had begun to malfunction knitted her brow.

She taped the bandage and stood, for a moment letting her fingers linger along where the cut was. He was looking at his feet.

"Baatar," she said evenly, "why did you try to keep fixing the flamethrower even when it had begun to explode? And, for the love of the spirits, why did you immediately go back to work even after you were injured? You're going to kill yourself working in that lab." He knew she was angry at him, the incredulous tone in her voice giving her away.

"These mechs are going to have to work some day," he replied, teeth grit, "I can't sit around and watch as all my work blows up in my face, literally!" He clenched his fists, thinking of all the projects that had gone wrong.

"The work you do is so dangerous, can't you see that? You keep throwing yourself into these situations and not understanding what the consequences could be! Can't you ever use your brain and know when to quit? You could've been blown to bits!"

All semblance of her cool demeanor was gone, and she was yelling, hands gesticulating wildly around her.

"Yes, it's my job," he shot back, "I'm in charge of getting these machines built. Raiko may have given you your fancy title and the people may be giving you their lands, but it's up to me to make sure we have any infrastructure at all! I keep messing things up, and I can't become a fool to our supporters."

"You are not allowed to place yourself in danger anymore, Baatar." She squared her shoulders and looked down to him where he was sitting on the bed, towering above him. "You are my second in command and the leader of my entire engineering corps. There is no reason I see fit for you to be purposefully in a position where you might be injured. I can't afford to replace you if you die while working on a project."

"And why's that?" He asked. Her lips parted as he spoke, and he watched her wet a dry lip as he spoke. "Is it inconvenient for you to have to get someone new? Why can't you just let me do my work? Don't you think I'm not worried about you too when you go off in bandit controlled territory? Why do you freak out every time any little thing goes wrong?"

"Because I love you!" She shouted suddenly, interrupting his rant. His jaw dropped, and in the silence that followed, a drop of blood fell from his still unbandaged scalp, and he swore he could hear it sink into the fabric of his top. Her eyes were wide, but she did not break eye contact, wondering if her sudden confession would ruin everything that they had started to build between them.

"I love you, okay?" Her voice fell to a whisper, and she placed a hand gently on his cheek, avoiding his bruise. "I worry myself sick about you, and I'm terrified of what would happen if one day something went wrong and I lost you." Her voice broke as she said "lost", and he reached up to place his hand on hers. "Our people need you, but I need you too." 

"Kuvira, I love you too. You have to know that." And the smile she broke into when he said that, all her features softening, made tears well up in his eyes. She hadn't looked so perfectly happy and peaceful since they had left Zaofu.

"I love you," he said, pulling her face towards his and peppering kisses all over, from the corners of her lips to the tip of her nose to the arc of her forehead. "I love you, I love you, I love you." His hand was still on hers, resting on his cheek, and she grabbed it.

"I love you here on this train," she began, kissing the tip of his thumb, "I love you in every corner of the empire," kissing his forefinger, "I love you now," kissing his middle finger, "I will love you tomorrow, I will love you every day of my life," she finished, kissing his ring finger and finally his pinky.

With a sly smile, Baatar grabbed Kuvira around the waist and pulled her down next to him on the bed, and they both laid in silence for a moment.

"How about we take the rest of the day off?" He asked, tilting his head to look at her.

"First I have to finish bandaging you up, you crazy scientist," she pulled a finger up to his slit forehead and wiped away a trail of blood, starting to dry. Getting up again reluctantly, she got out the bandages, and, leaning over him, sanitized and covered the cut to stop the bleeding. When she was done, she took her own initiative to push him into a lying position and get on the bed, straddling him. He allowed her, trailing his fingers along her thighs while she stared at his face and he breathed slowly.

"Now," she said, her voice getting husky, a sensual voice she used only for him, "I think it's time for a well deserved break."

Baatar grinned back at Kuvira, and his hands slid down to the small of her back as she leaned down to kiss him. With a flick of her wrist, she locked the door, then placed her hand behind his head, and there she held him, not letting go.

**Author's Note:**

> eyyyy more baavira. im seriously way too deep at this point. welp, i guess there's not really a problem with it. anyway, hope ya liked it! you can find me at roxymir on tumblr or here on my ao3. thanks for reading!!


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